Sharlie
Picture this: it's quiet, still, and you're staring at a beautiful 5,300 acre lake formed by glacier activity ages ago. If you ever make your way to Payette Lake in Idaho, you may be lucky enough to see this. And to catch a glimpse of the strange Sharlie. A lake monster who has been regularly sighted for over a hundred years.
The lake is notably deep, almost 400 feet, created by glacier activity. People have lived near it for hundreds of years and, if you believe any of this at all, they have always been wary of it.
Even the Nez Perce and Shoshone tribes that lived or traveled by the lake spoke of a strange, twisted presence that lay in the depths of this strange lake. It's believed that these stories built the Sharlie we know today. Although, it did take all the way until the 1920s before Sharlie really started getting her due.
In 1920, a group of railroad workers were cutting ties near the end of the lake. Similar to Nessie sightings, they initially thought they saw a floating log begin to move of its own will as if it bewitched. However, then they noticed it was creating a deep wake and that it wasn't just a log, it was an entire body. The workers' account spread quickly through the community once they headed back for the night and more stories of sightings around Payette lake that couldn't be explained began to bubble up.
Let's jump all the way to 1944 which is when Sharlie makes the big leagues. Since the 1920s, although there have been a handful of small sightings and rumblings, nothing "big" had happened. But something must have been bugging Sharlie during the summer of 1944 because several groups of witnesses saw her rise from the depths. One of them was from Dr. Taylor, of Nampa, Idaho, who described Sharlie as 30-40 feet long that rose to the surface and dove creating as much wake as a small motor boat. As sightings mounted, the story got picked up first throughout Idaho and then at Time Magazine. In their August issue, they ran a short feature on the creature. Monster hunters, cryptozoologists, and the curious made their way to the beautiful lake hoping to catch a glimpse of the monster. Similar to other cryptids we know, like Mothman, the locals didn't hate the attention. In fact, Sharlie sightings drove up hotel bookings, restaurant reservations, and boosted the local economy.
I've been calling her Sharlie this whole time and you might be wondering why. Well, you should be. I never explained it to you. The name actually comes from a contest. As sightings continued to grow, A. Boone McCallum, who ran the local newspaper, The Star News, decided to hold a contest to name the creature. Entries poured in from town, but also across the country. The winning entry came from Le Isle Hennefer Tury of Springfield, VA. Sharlie was a reference to a popular catchphrase from the Jack Pearl radio show: "Vas you der, Sharlie."
Of course, there are theories. Including but not limited to:
That what they thought was a log was really just a log
A really big fish or a school of fish
Just a sturgeon (the “owls” of the sea)
A stranding, oscillating wave that sometimes occurs in lakes. The phenomenon is known as a “seiche.”
Maybe she is real, and it is a living relic of a prehistoric species
No evidence of Sharlie really exists. There are no photos or film or recordings of the monsters. But sightings continue to trickle in, although they have nose-dived since we've entered the 21st century. Whether you believe in Sharlie or not…her story is out there.
Thanks to Sam in Boise for this blogstonishing suggestion!
Image Credit: Winter sunrise at the north shore of Payette Lake, Idaho. The morning was as still as can be. Cool subtle breeze coming from the east, I could hear small air bubble passing below the ice near me. I hear a twig break, it was a small deer coming down from the mountain for a drink. Slowly the sun begins to give me a preview of the glory that would be created before my lens this day. Taken by Charles Knowles from Meridian Idaho, USA. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
